Abstract
When a reader selects a book about cultural competence or responsiveness, the characteristics that typically come to mind are race and ethnicity. The saliency of race and ethnicity is understandable given that by the year 2050 nearly 50 % of the population of the United States will be comprised of racial and ethnic minority populations (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). However, in recent years, culture is being conceptualized more broadly to include the culture of gender, age, economic status, location (e.g., urban, rural), and community (e.g., military). Thus, it is important that school mental health (SMH) services are sensitive to these diverse cultures and contexts. The goals of this chapter are to highlight some of the unique challenges associated with SMH service provision in rural contexts and to discuss strategies for advancing culturally responsive care in rural SMH. In particular, we focus on issues related to limited access to services, interpersonal connections, and ethical challenges specific to rural contexts (i.e., competence and dual relationships). We also develop a vignette throughout the chapter to help these issues come to life. We begin with a few contextual comments.
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Owens, J.S., Watabe, Y., Michael, K.D. (2013). Culturally Responsive School Mental Health in Rural Communities. In: Clauss-Ehlers, C., Serpell, Z., Weist, M. (eds) Handbook of Culturally Responsive School Mental Health. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4948-5_3
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